We need to de-junk-ify our children

David WeintraubECO

Published: Monday, March 11, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, March 8, 2013 at 1:10 p.m.

My son asked me why we aren't a “normal” family. Many of his friends have portable electronic devices, eat tons of junk “food” and frequently eat fast “food.” Rather than playing out in nature, catching frogs, tracking deer or planting a garden, his peers tend to stare at video games, surf the Internet and eat lots of junk. Our family follows a different path.

Facts

David Weintraub is executive director of the Environmental and Conservation Organization (ECO). Contact ECO at 828-692-0385 or visit its website, www.eco-wnc.org.

It's not easy being a parent in this day and age. Every trip down the aisle at the supermarket features hundreds of products screaming to be bought, marketed to my son and his friends. Television makes children feel bad if they don't have the latest toy or haven't purchased the latest junk snack.

Healthy lunch has been converted to nutrition-poor “lunchables,” extra sugary desserts are disguised as wholesome yogurt, and breakfast cereals rich in everything but nutrition are certified by the American Heart Association because a speck of fiber blew by the factory while the candy-laced product was being produced.

Most of this food isn't marketed to adults; they assume we already know the difference between food and garbage. They're marketed to our children in the same way that Joe Camel enticed young people to smoke cigarettes.

Not surprisingly, the tobacco industry bought out many junk food companies years ago and now uses the same tried and true techniques. Except now Joe Camel has been transformed into Ronald McDonald, SpongeBob Squarepants and Cinderella.

The effect of these food wars on our families is stunning. Based on recent studies, one in four of our formerly healthy children have been transformed into sick kids struggling with childhood obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure or other early warning signs for heart disease. In fact, what struck me right between the eyes were the death statistics: More than 450,000 people die each year from smoking-related diseases, and nearly the same, 423,000 people, die each year from diet-related diseases.

Getting back to electronics, a growing body of research demonstrates a connection between the ubiquitous iJunk in our lives and obesity, learning disabilities and inactivity. One recent study out of Canada shows that for every portable device in a child's bedroom, the likelihood of childhood obesity rose proportionately. Scientists also point out that technology may be rewiring our brains, making us more impatient, impulsive and forgetful, and may reduce our ability to process information and think deeply and creatively.

One of the “skills” considered to be the great fruit of the digital era is our ability to multitask. On closer scrutiny, according to Clifford Nass, a Stanford University researcher, multitaskers fail to do anything well because their brain is unable to focus on any task effectively.

Electronic devices have changed our value system — the desire for speed is more valued these days than the desire to be accurate or to do well. And what gets lost when we seek “information” yet have no time to actually learn is that we don't become critical thinkers, we don't have time to deeply think about our world, and we ultimately lose our creativity.

So tell me again why we are bringing these devices into the classroom.

We all seem to be addicted to new information yet seem to know less about the world than our recent ancestors, who had no cable, no satellite and no computers.

Our electronic devices are teaching us how to constantly interact but not how to be alone and to be quiet with our thoughts. In the days before computers, 20 years ago, we had time with ourselves to restore, to refresh and regenerate. Psychologists think that if we can't learn to be alone, we tend to always feel lonely.

Where did our kids learn to be tethered to electronics? More than likely, it was by watching their closest adult models at the dinner table checking their emails, seeing us pushing their swing with one hand while texting with the other, and observing electronics becoming our god, our companion, our blankie. One of the saddest signs of the times is a family sitting together, with dad on his laptop, mom on her smartphone and the kids texting away, oblivious that they are together in the same room. Is this the future we wish to create for our family, our community and our world?

So how do we break our addiction to this junk food of our mind and body?

Luckily, there's an app for that. (I'm not talking about a mindless smartphone application!) The natives of the Southern Appalachian Mountains developed great wisdom through connecting to the land. Their music, traditional farming techniques and awareness of the natural world gave them great wealth in areas that often today leave us bankrupt.

In “Last Child in the Woods,” Richard Louv explores the notion of “nature deficit disorder.” What most comes naturally to children, to be connected with nature, too often is denied in our “modern” world.

The most powerful memories in my childhood were spent running in the woods, fishing and listening to the sounds of nature. By re-teaching ourselves and our children how to find sacred space for ourselves in our own backyards, we still have a chance to reconnect with our truer selves, unplugged.

Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.